2. On Tuesday, March 18 the House Judiciary Committee will hear this year’s raft of firearms related bills. Here’s the whole list (plus one bill that’s not there)…

• H7311 and H7310: Extends the prohibition on owning firearms for those convicted of felony domestic violence charges to misdemeanor domestic violence charges.
• H7328: Disallows suspended sentences for possession of a stolen firearm.
• H7376: Makes renewal of a firearms permit “automatic, subject to payment of the fee, and a criminal background check” though I’m not entirely sure what “automatic” means, given the other conditions that have to be actively fulfilled.
• H7381: Clarifies (apparently, based on the official explanation) that all records related to the background check required for purchase of a rifle or a shotgun, and not just the “duplicate and triplicate” records are to be destroyed, in cases where no disqualifying information is found. H7586 does the same thing, in the pistols and revolvers section of the law.
• H7582: Rewrites the regulations pertaining to when a person under the age of 18 may possess a firearm.
• H7583: Creates a state registry of certain types of firearms.
• H7584: Bans “semiautomatic assault weapons” and “large capacity ammunition feeding devices”.
• H7585: Bans “magazines holding more than ten rounds”.
• H7588: Makes it illegal to discharge a firearm from an aircraft “in a manner which creates a substantial risk of death or serious personal injury to another person”. But is it actually legal to discharge a firearm in a manner which creates a substantial risk of death or serious personal injury to another person, as the law currently stands??
• H7855: Makes it illegal to “possess or transport or attempt to transport any firearm through any security checkpoint or in any restricted area on airport property”.
• H7856: Changes the law so that instead of “persons” being prohibited from possessing firearms on school grounds, only students or person under eighteen years of age are.
• H7857: Assesses an additional $50 in court costs, for certain firearms related convictions, with “the funds raised under this section shall be distributed monthly to the office of the general treasurer who shall, on a yearly basis, distribute the funds in equal amounts to 501(c)(3), non profit organizations who have programs in non-violence, violence prevention and victim’s services in a majority of cities and towns in Rhode Island”. Because this bill makes appropriations to private organizations, it requires a 2/3 majority to pass.
• H7923: is an omnibus bill from the Attorney General, extending the ban on firearms possession to people convicted of domestic-violence misdemeanors, prohibiting the carrying of rifles and shotguns, and adding penalties for providing a firearm to a minor that’s used in a crime of violence.
• Finally, not present on the agenda is any bill removing “shall issue” concealed carry permitting authority from cities and towns and making the Attorney General the sole licensing authority for concealed carry, on a strictly “may issue” basis.